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UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA 



EDUCATION AND FECUNDITY 



BY 

NELLIE SEEDS NEARING 



ABSTRACT OF THESIS 

PRESEN rED TO THE FACULTY OF THE GRADUATP. SCHOOL IN 

PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR 

THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY 



REPRINT FROM PUBLICATION OF AMERICAN 

STATISTICAL ASSOCIATION 

JUNE, 1914 



CHAUTAUQUA PRINT SHOP 

CHAUTAUQUA, N. Y. 

1917 



UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA 



EDUCATION AND FECUNDITY 



BY 

NELLIE SEEDS NEARING 



ABSTRACT OF THESIS 

PRESENTED TO THE FA<;ULTY OF THE GRADUATK SCHOOL IN 

PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR 

THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY 



REPRINT FROM PUBLICATION OF AMERICAN 

STATISTICAL ASSOCIATION 

JUNE, 1914 



CHAUTAUQUA PRINT SHOP 

CHAUTAUQUA, N. T. 

1917 



W'> 



?^^ 



a\ 



Gift 



EDUCATION AND FECUNDITY. 

I'.Y NELLIE SEEDS NEARING. 



1. The Increase in the Higher Education of Women. 

In the effort to analyze a popular prejudice or fallacy, an ade- 
quate investigation of facts is usually sufficient to reveal the 
origin of such prejudice in previously existing conditions which 
have altered so gradually with time, that society as a whole has 
hardly yet become aware of the change. In such a category we 
might include many of the fallacies concerning the position and 
faculties of women. 

A hundred years ago. the higher education of women wa< an 
unheard of phenomenon. Women were intended to bear children. 
What need had Ihey of an education! Marriages were then con- 
tracted at an early age, usually in the teens or early twenties, 
and as an advanced education precluded the possibility of an earlv 
marriage, it seemed to preclude possibility of marriage at all. 

The average woman, therefore, who went to college in the 
early days of college training for women, was not the type who 
would have been apt to marry in any case. The first classes of 
college women consisted largely of the woman who had some spe- 
cial talent which she wished to develop and practice, the woman 
of strong intellectual proclivities, who preferred not to engage in 
the domestic occupations usually relegated to women, and the 
woman who, because of personal unattractiveness, knew or feared 
her lack of popularity among men. 

The later experiences of women's colleges are quite the opposite 
of those early encountered. Today it is the normal, not the un- 
usual girl who goes to college or technical school. College edu- 
cation is considered generally desirable as a means of finishing the 
education of the average woman. It gives culture. It has be- 
come a common comfort, if not a necessity, for young women of 
means. 

The developments of the last twenty years have placed before 
the parents of all classes a powerful incentive to give their 
daughters the best in education that can be secured. Are parents 
today recognizing these facts and educating their daughters as 
well as their sons? What are the facts? .'-Vfter thev have been 



EDUCATION AND FECUNDITY. 



ascertained, the second question may be asked — Does this increaNC 
of education have any appreciable effect upon fecundity? 

The facts point conckisively to a rapid advance in the higher 
education of women. In the first place a larger number of girls 
than of boys are being given a high school education in the cities 
of the United States. Among 318 cities of the United States, 132 
having 25,000 population and over. 186 having less than 25,000 
population, twenty report more boys than girls in the fourth year 
of the high school. These twenty, moreover, are small and com- 
paratively unimportant. In all the other 298 cities the number 
of girls is uniformly greater than that of boys.* 

Although the number of girls in the high schools almost uni- 
versally exceeds the number of boys, the situation in the elemen- 
tary grades is the reverse. A school census of thirty-two state-^ 
(1911) shows that in only one state — New Hampshire — were 
there more girls than boys in all grades of the sclionlst. In orJv 
eiglit nut of these thirty-one states, however, did the difference 
between the number of boys and number of girls exceed 10,000. 
The school system in its entirety contains a higher proportion of 
boys than of girls. It is only in the high school grades that the 
number of girls exceeds the number of boys. Clearly then, girls 
are availing themselves more fully of the public higher educa- 
tional opportunities than are boys. 

■ The real extent of the entrance by women into the fields of 
higher education is shown by a study of the statistics of college 
students. The movement toward the college education of women 
is so recent, and the opportunities for such education so much 
smaller than for that of men, that some years must still elapse 
before the absolute number of girls in college aijproaches the 
absolute number of boys there. The vital question therefore is 
the rale of increase in the number of women attending college 
each year and the rate of increase in the number of men. Tlic 
figures are available between 1889- 191 2 for the number of men 
and women in colleges of the United States.* .A comparison of 

* Age and grade census of Schools and Colleges, G. D. Straker, United 
.States Bureau of Education Bulletin 191 1, No. 5, pp. 14-28. 

t Report of United States Commissioner of Education, 1911-1912, Gov- 
einmcnt Printing Office, igi,'? Vol. 2, p. 93. 



EDUCATION AND FECUNDITY. 



these figures, first by ten year periods, then for the total period, 
shows that the ratio of increase is far greater for the women than 
for men 

TABLE I. 

PEK CENT. OF INCREASE IN THE NUMBER OF MEN AND WOMEN IN THE 

COLLEGES OF THE UNITED STATES. 1889- 1912. 



Period. 



Men. 



Women. 



iSfjo-iSgi ot 1900-1901. 
1900-1901 to 1910- igi I. 
1889-1890 to 1911-1912. 



64 


77 


S8 


66 


179 . 


248 



A further examination of the figures shows that the proportion 
of men to the total number of college students is steadily decreas- 
ing, and inverseh- the proportion of women steadily increasing. 

T-\BLE II. 
PROPORTION OF MEN IN COLLEGE TO TOTAL COLLEGE STUDENTS. 

1889-1912. 



Period. 



Per Cent. 



1*301891 
1.J00-1901 
lyio-igt 1 
1911-1912 



68 
66 
64 
63 



Here then is an answer to the first question regarding the 
higher education of women. The number of women in the United 
.'states receiving higher education is absolutely and relatively in- 
creasing in the colleges, while in the high schools the number of 
girl students actually e.xceeds the number of boy students. What 
effect, if any, has this general entrance of women into the fields 
of higher education upon the marriage and birth rates of the 
women? An answer, scientificalh- established, will put to rest 
popular i^rejudice and s])eculative theor-\'. 

*Total number of men and women in the colleges uf the United States, 
1889- 1912. Report of the Commissioner of Education, 1911-1912, Govern- 
ment Printing Office, 1913, Vol. 2, p. 249. 

1889-1890 44.9-26 20,874 

1890- 1891 46,220 22,03b 

1900-1901 '. 75.4/- .38,900 

1910-191 1 119,026 64,546 

1911-1912 125.750 72.703 



EDUCATION AND FECUNDITV. 



II. Marriage Rates of Educated Women. 

Marriage is the first element in fecundity which must be con- 
sidered and investigated. Illegitimate births are few among the 
educated classes, and the statistics of such births even in the 
population at large, never exact, probably do not even approxi- 
mate the truth. Hence this discussion will ignore the whole 
question of illegitimacy, and consider marriage as the necessarv 
precursor to motherhood. 

The method adopted in obtaining the statistics of marriage 
among college women was as follows: From a list of all the 
colleges in the L'nited States, classified according to states, in the 
report of the United States Commissioner of Education for 
1911-1912, showing in all 459 colleges liaving wtnnen students, 
seventy-two colleges were selected from twenty-eight states, an 
effort being made ttj select those having the largest number of 
women students. The women in these colleges are representative, 
b(jth territorially and numerically, df the college women of the 
United States. The colleges were selected from various localities. 
The tot;d number of women students in these seventv-two colleges 
was 40,653 or 36 per cent, of the total number of women college 
students in the United States. 

.•\ form letter was written to the registrar of eacli of these 
colleges asking for any vital statistics which had been collected, 
or which might be available in any form. Twenty-nine colleges 
rei-ilied that n(5 such statistics were available, eighteen sent Uii 
reply, and twenty-five colleges sent such information as they had, 
which information in seven cases proved of no value. The ma- 
terial at hand was then carefully gone over and compiled into 
marriage rate and birth rate tables for each college. 

The marriage tables for each college were then combined into 
two tables giving by decades first the number and second the per 
cent, of married and unmarried graduates from eighteen colleges 
lun'ing a total of 14,551 women graduates. 



EDUCATION AND FECUNDITY. 



5 



TABLE III. 

•NUMBERS OF WOMEN GRADUATES AND NUMBER OF SUCH GRADUATES 

MARRIED FOR CERTAIN COLLEGES. BY COLLEGE AND 

BY DECADES, 1870-1913. 





187c 


•79 


1880-89 


1890-99 


1900-09 1 1910-12 Total to 
1 1012 


College. 


g-i 

w 0- 


0*1 


02; 
D.3 

c 0- 





Si 




oz 

C.3 
n 


gS! 

^3 


OZ 

it 

CO* 

ft 


gz 

G.-1 


c o- 


0.1 


EarUiam 

Swarthmore 

VV'iihion 

Indiana 

Vassar 

Oregon 

Radcliffe ... 

Wellesley.. 

S. Dakota... 

iJryn Mawr 

Mississippi. 

Holyoke .... 

Washington 
State 

Rochester ... 

Ohio 

Oregon Agri- 
cultural ... 

kockford . . . 

Sini'ih 


23 
t 


13 

21 
20 
30 
203 


43 

1% 
56 
376 
34 

3l8 
■ 2' 


33 
42 
23 
40 

208 
19 
12 

2S7 

7 


'3? 
148 

219 

228 

791 

84 
253 
1201 

47 
294 

10 
377 


80 

86 

126 
120 
52.1 
37 
123 
3 
158 


zoo 

260 

3f-9 
482 
1874 
'51 
746 

733 
688 
48 

82 
.35= 


103 
103 

164 
500 
63 
228 

33 

244 

8 

34 
30 


■5 
J09 

r4u 

228 
23 

83 


10 
4 
2 

16 

5 
13 


746 
887 
3424 
269 
1257 
1719 
153 
1 193 
70 

174 
135 
52 

398 

237" 
2l6l» 


266 
366 
1287 
136 
376 
780 
84 
392 
18 

56 
40 
32 

206 
134 
1016 



TABLE IV. 

RER CENT. OF WOMEN COLLEGE GRADUATES WHO MARRIED, FOR 

CERTAIN COLLEGES, BY COLLEGES AND BY DECADES. 1870-1913. 



College. 



Earlham 

Swarthmore 

Wilson , 

Indiana 

Vassar 

Oregon 

Radcliffe 

\\'eHesley 

South Dakota 

Bryn Mawr 

Missis'iiiipi 

Holyoke 

Washington State 

Rocliester 

Ohio 

Oregon Agricultural. 

Rockford 

Smith 



1870-79 



56.9 
67.7 
5.S.5 
85.7 
53.0 



I 



l8u- 89 



76.7 
58.3 

54-7 
71-4 
55-3 
55-8 
40.0 
49.6 



Per 



Cent, of Graduates 
Married 






1890-99 



Total 
Gradu- 
ates to 
1912 



60.6 
58.7 
56.1 
55-2 
47.5 
64.2 
47-4 
43.5 
78.7 
41.8 
30.0 
41.9'' 



51.5 
39-6 
30-7 
,!4.9 
26.6 
41.7 
30.5 

21.7 

35-4 

16.6 

23.6» 

41.4 

22.2 



I 



■3-3 
3.6 



7.6 



T5.6 



50.3 
42.2 
35.6 
41.2 
37-5 
50.5 
29.9 
45-3 
54-9 
32.8 
25.7 

32.1 
22.2 
61.S 
51.7 
56.1 
47.0 



2 Since 1873. ^Since 1883. = Since 1901-10. *Since 1873. ° Since 1885. « To 1901. 
_t Secured from an article by Amy Hewes, Quarterly Publication of American Statis- 
tical Association, Vol. XII. p. 771. 



6 EDUCATION AND FECUNDITY. 

In only live cases were figures available for the decade 1870- 
79. ill only nine cases were they available from 1880-89. In 
view of the fact, further, that the marriage rate of those graduat- 
ing since 1900 would still necessarily be low because such gradu- 
ates would be under 35 years of age, the most representative 
decade under consideration would be that from 1800-99. Here 
the absolute number of women graduates is greater than in any 
precefling decade, although less than in any succeeding decade. 
The per cent, of marriage here averages, on the whole, consider- 
ably lower than that of the previous decades in tlie colleges from 
which such information is available. It is probable, therefore, 
that the per cent, in this decade would give a conservative estimate 
of the rate for college women. It varies from 78.7 in South 
Dakota State College to 30 per cent, in the L'niversity of Mississ- 
ippi^neither of these colleges being representative, graduating 
between them in the decade only 57 students. If we compare the 
per cent, for this decade with that of the following, we find an 
average fall of 20 while the average fall from the per cent, of 
1900-09 to that which was estimated in a few cases for 1909-1912 
was 2^ per cent. 

The totals are comparatively meaningless. This statement 
applies to both the ab.solute number and to the )M"oportion of 
graduates married. Pioth the total number of graduates married 
in each college ( and in some colleges this was the only information 
available ), and the proportion married must be considered in view 
of the fact that the results are obtained from a body of students 
of Whom a large number have yet had little o]>portunity for mar- 
riage, and whose marriage rate when estimated separately wis 
from 20 to 23 per cent, lower than that in the previous decade. 
It must be remembered, moreover, that as each graduating cl:is> 
is in almost every case larger than the preceding one. the denom- 
inator of the fraction is every year being increased at a greater 
rate than the numerator. On the other hand, this marriage per 
cent, of the entire number of graduates of a college includes in tlie 
older colleges those who have graduated in the decades previous 
to 1890, and whose marriage rate averages, where figures are ob- 
tainable, over 15 per cent, higher in 1880-89 than in 1890-99 and 



EDUCATIOy AND FECUNDITY. J 

5 per cent, higher in 1870-79 than in 1880-89. Balancing off tlie 
20 and 25 per cent, fall in the rate from 1890 to 1913, and 15 and 
5 per cent, increase previous to 1890 and taking into account that 
the fall was for a far greater absolute number than the increase, 
because of the yearly increase in size of classes, we may assume 
that in cases where the marriage rate by classes was not obtain- 
able, the rate for those graduating in the decade 1890-99 is at least 
10 per cent, higher than the rate for the entire body of graduates. 

The earliest years, as already indicated, are scarcely repre- 
sentative. Yet there seems to be little real dift'erence between the 
percentages there and in later decades. Of the 9 colleges which 
supply us figures for the decade 1880-89, 2 show percentages of 
married graduates in excess of 70 per cent. In neither of these 
colleges was the total number of graduates large ( Earlham 43, 
Indiana 56). The other 7 colleges report marriage rates varying 
less than 10 points. The 2 large colleges, Vassar and Wellesley 
(376 and 518 graduates respectively), report a marriage rate for 
tl'.e decade of 55.3 in the case of \'assar and 49.6 in the case of 
Wellesley. The decade 1890 to 1899 is undoubtedly the most 
fairly representative of any of the decades under consideration. 
On the one hand, it falls within the epoch which accepted College 
Education for women, and looked upon it as thoroughly respect- 
able. On the other hand, the graduates in the latest graduating 
class (class of 1899) are now at least 35 years of age. The mar- 
riage record of the decade is therefore fairly complete. The 8 
colleges graduating more than 100 students during the decade 
( Earlham, Swarthmore, Wilson, Indiana. N'assar. Radeliffe. 
Wellesley, and Bryn Mawr) show fairly uniform marriage rates, 
the lowest is Bryn Mawr, 41.8 per cent. (294 graduates), and the 
highest is Swarthmore, 58.7 per cent. (148 graduates). It is 
probable that the marriage rate for this decade is fairly represen- 
tative of the tendency in the modern women's college world. 
Granted that this statement is accurate, it ma}- be said that the 
proportion of women college graduates who marry is a]i]5roxi- 
mately one half (u.sually slightly over 50 per cent.). 

The records of the succeeding decade show a heavy falling off 
in i)er cent, of women marrieii. The women in the class of 1909 



EDUCATION AND FKCUNDITY. 



are approximately 25 years old. The marriage records are there- 
fore incomplete and wholly unreliable. The proportion married 
for this decade i.s from one quarter to one third of the total 
graduates, and is therefore almost one half of the pupils reported 
for the previous decade. 

This study was originally intended to stu(h' in three classes: 
( 1 ) The college woman, ( 2 ) The normal school graduate, and ( _^ I 
The commercial high school graduate, and to compare the mar- 
riage and birth rates prevailing among the three. With this end 
in view a form letter similar to that sent to the colleges was sent 
to leading high and normal schools throughout the country. (')iily 
six replies were received and in only 2 of these cases was any in- 
formation vouchsafed. Obviously these figures were of no pr;'.c- 
tical use. 

The only other group educationally (in a par with women col- 
lege graduates, for whom statistics are obtainable, is the grouj) of 
men college graduates. The ]'vle Rcticzv gives us the following 
marriage rate for Yale graduates: 



TAin.F. \'. 
PER (EXT (IF V.1.I.E (;R.\I)1 AXES WHO WERE MAKKlEl). irui l.S8^. 



Classes. i Per Cent. Married 

I 



1701-1701 S8.3 

1707-1833 *•* 

1834-1849 ' R1.2 

1849-1866 1 8i..i 

1867-1886 1 66.3 



The figures for the classes 1867-1886 are the only ones in any 
way com|)arable with the figures for woman college gradiuates. 
Since the question of social standing did not enter into the m:ir- 
riage rate of college men during the earlier decades, their mar- 
riage rate for the earliest decades would be expected to be some- 
what higher than that of college women. 

The only remaining comparison to be made is that lietween the 
marriage rate of college women and the marriage rate nf the 
])opulation at large. 



EDUCATION AND FECUNDITY. 



TABLE VI. 
PER CENT. MARRIED.- TOTAL NUMBERS AND PERCENTAGES OF WOMEN. 
IS YEARS OF AGE AND OVER, TOGETHER WITH THOSE WHO ARE 
MARRIED AND WHO ARE SINGLE. 1910. 



Total. 



Married 



Number. ^^^ 
Cent. 



Number. 



Per 
Cent. 



Total: 

Native white 30,047, ,525 I 100 

Native parentage 15,523,900 1 100 

Native white, foreign or I I 

mixed parentage I 5,887,131 too 

Foreign-born white 1 5.446,306 1 100 

Negro I 3.103,344 I mo 



21.045,983 
10.842,998 

3,421,147 
4,444,657 
2,269,066 



J_ 



70.0 
6y.8 

58.1 
81.6 
73-1 



Single 



Number. 



8.933.170 
4,644,122 

2,453.017 
994. 1 1 
823,996 



Per 
Cent. 



29-7 
29.9 

41-7 
18.3 
26.6 



.Since the great majority of women college graduates are native- 
born, the only figures here with which comparison can be made 
are those referring to native whites of native parents. As au- 
thority for this assumption, I miglit (|uote an investigation cover- 
ing 1.290 college graduates in wiiich 705 replied, practically all of 
wlioni were native born : 

83.3 per cent, had native Aimerican parents. 
2.8 per cent, had foreign mother and native father. 
3.5 per cent, had foreign father and native mother, 
only 9.8 per cent, had both parents fcjreign born. 
The following figures then stand ccmtrasted : 

ll'aiiioi 75 Years and Over. Per Cent. Married. 

(native white, native parents )... .69.8 (figures taken 1910). 

College graduates to 1913 42.2 ( figures taken 1913 ). 

In view of the fact that a small proportion of college graduates 
(about 15 per cent. ) are of foreign or maxed percentage, and that 
the marriage rate for tlie population at large for native white 
women of foreign parentage is 58.1 ])er cent., hence lower than 
that for native white of native parentage, the 42.2 ])er cent of 
college graduates should really be compared with a figure ob- 
tained b\- including 15 per cent, of those with foreign or mixed 
parentage, tluis lowering the rate slightly. In other words, if we 
add to the 15,525,900 of native white jiarentage 15 per cent, of the 
5.887,131 of mixed parentage, or 883.069 and to the 10,842,998 

♦Abstract of the Thirteenth Census. 



10 KDL'CATIOX AND FECUNDITY. 



married of native white parentage. 58 ]3er cent, (the foreign 
parentage rate) of this 883,069, or 158,925. we get a total of 
11,001,950 women married out of total 16,406.969. This would 
give a marriage per cent, of 67. We can then make our contrast 
between 67 per cent, for the whole population and 42.2 per cent, 
for college graduates. 

These figures show that the marriage rate for non-college 
women is 59 per cent, higher than the rate for college women. 
This would seem on the face of it, to be a tremendous difference, 
but it cannot be attributed solely to the difiference in etlucation. 
There are two other factors that play a large part in the situation. 
First comes the financial situation. In the second place. soci;d 
considerations are of the utmost importance in determining mar- 
riage and usually act in actual practice as deterrents rather than 
incentives. The standards of living among educated people are 
higher, and their requirements harder for the prospective husbaiMJ 
to meet. These two factors might and do cimtrlbute tcward the 
comparatively low marriage rate of college women. 

No other available figures throw light on the marriage rate, 
actual or comparative, of college wnmen. College women do 
marry, probably in fifty cases out of ;i hundred, given sufficient 
time out of college. 

111. KlRTH RaTE.S OK EoiKArED VVOMIi.N. 

Like the statistics of marriage, the most satisfactory statistics 
of the birth rate among educated women are those nf college 
graduates. Out of the 58 replies from the 71 colleges written to, 
only 5 vouchsafed any information from which ;i liirth rate could 
be deduced. In addition, information concerning 4 other college? 
was obtained indirectl}'. Thus the source f.-om which the figu^c.^ 
were drawn is small in comparison with the entire field. The 
colleges included in it are, however, the most representative of 
American colleges for women. The following table gives a mim- 
ber of the most pertinent facts about the birth rates of college 
women : 



EDUCATION AND FECUNDITY. 





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C* 


^ ^ 




*■ 




rt 






















Cu 


7" 



iimcA ridx AND I'lK. rxiin \-. 



Fr(jni thi> table it appears that the per cent, of married college 
graduates having one or more children varies from 67 per cent, at 
Smith to 72.3 at Rockford College. In all cases the period covered 
is approximately the same ( Rryn Mawr is the sole exception ). In 
all cases the percentage by one or more children is remarkably 
uniform. The per cent, having two or more children varies from 
44.7 at Smith to 53 at Bryn Mawr. The per cent, of married 
graduates having no children varies from 20.1 per cent, at Rock- 
ford to 32.9 per cent, at Smith. Thus we find the birth rate is 
lowest at Smith, highest at Rockford, with Bryn Mawr as a 
medium. 

This table of marriage rates and birth rates gives the figures 
from approximately the beginning of each college down to 1901. 
In the case of Bryn Mawr and of Holyoke. 'however, the found- 
ing of them was at a much later date than that of the others. 
(Holyoke existed as a Seminary only, prior to i8yo. ) Since 
therefore neither of these colleges has the body of older graduates 
thnt the other colleges have, we should expct to find marriage and 
birth rates corresp(indingly lower. Since this is not the case in 
the birth rates at Br\'n Mawr, we may assume a somewhat higher 
birth rate there in proportion to the other colleges, than is shown 
b\' the figures. Since the figures for the 8 colleges whose com- 
bined records appear show a slightly lower birth rate than the 
median taken from the entire table, we may assume a slightly 
lower rate for the colleges included in it. Wells, RadclitTe, North- 
western, whose se]iarate figures were not obtainable, than for the 
colleges fnr which separate figures were secured. 

A comparison of the absolute number of children in each case 
with the nnml)er of graduates in the 4 colleges from which these 
figures were obtainable, shows the following results : Smith 59.4, 
Yassar 83.9, Bryn Mawr 82.3, and Holyoke 76.3 children per 100 
graduates. This rate apparently falls far short of properly main- 
taining the population. The ,s.mall percentage of marriages among 
graduates, coupled with the low Ijirtli rate spells population <le- 
cline. If. however, the matter is viewed from the standpoint of 
the married college graduate, the story is much better. A com- 
parison of the number of marrieil graduates with the number of 



EDUCATION AND FECUNDITY. 



13 



children gives the following result per. one hundred married grad- 
uates : Smith 126.4. ^ assar 164.3, Bryn Mawr 172.4. and Holyoke 
182.3 children. These figures average about 1.6 children per mar- 
ried Graduate. 



TABLE via. 
marriac;e a.\'u iuuth rates iif certain colleges by decades. 





! 

jf^Jumber 


Married 


Total 
Number 
of Chil- 
dren 


Number 
of Chil- 


Number 
of Chil- 

Hron 


(.'lasses 


(ullege 1 Gradu- 
ates 


Number 


Per Cent 


perToo ir^-"". 
Grad- 'Married 

-'« i ua?e's- 


1870 
10 

1879 

- 

1880 


Vassar 383 


203 
208 


1 
53- 1 422 

1 
55-3 348 

49— 1 427 

1 
47-5 553 

41.8 211 
43-5 776 

41.9 1 288 

26.6 1 344 
35-4 1 189 


110.1 

93-5 
82 3 


207.8 


Bryn Mawr 

Welleslev 




167.3 


to 

1S89 
1890 

to 
i8g.) 


Bryn Mawr t 

Wellesley j 518 


257 

376 
123 
523 
■58 ■ 

Soo 
244 




1 
69.9 1 147.0 
71-7 i 171.S 


Bryn Mawr i 294 






76.3 

18.3 
27.6 


182.3 

08 8 






to 


Brvn Mawr I 688 

Welleslev j 


77-4 




ll..lv,,l:e ' 1,206 


285 


23.6 


1 260 
1 


21.3 


91.2 



It is ap]):;rent that not even in the ilecade 1870-79 was the birth 
rate high enough to maintain the population, when both the un- 
married graduates and the husbands of the married graduates are 
taken into account. The rate in the next two decades declines for 
X'assar ami Smith to 92.5 and 82.4 children respectively per 100 
graduates, in the following decade these two colleges decline to 
(')g.9 and 64.6 respectively, but Bryn Mawr and Holyoke here 
begin their existence, and their rate.s for the classes of this decade 
are slightly higher than the two others. In the decade 1900-1909 
the rate is very low owing to recent graduation, and the figures are 
not worth consideration. 

Only 2 colleges (Vas.sar and Bryn Mawr) give any detailed 
information regarding the size of families. Of these colleges, 
X'assar alone has been in e.xistence long enough to show an\- 
marked change in familv size. 



M 



EDUCATION' AND FECUNDITY. 



TABLE IX. 
SIZE OF FAMILIES OF WOMEN COLLEGE GRADUATES. 



College and 


Total 
Married 
Graduates 


1 

Number of Married Graduates Haying Each of the 
Following Number of Children 


Total 
Chil- 
dren 


Period 


One 


Two I Three Four 


1 
Five Six 1 Seven Eight 


Vassar: 

1867-1901 

1867-1910 

Bryn Mawr 

1890-1912 

Vassar: 

1867-1876 

1 8-7- 1886 

1887-1896 

1897-1901 


961 
1.323 

380 

181 
207 
273 
276 


201 

3.6 
86 

24 
33 


209 
244 

84 

26 
40 

69 


143 
146 

47 

35 
33 
44 
31 


61 
61 

14 

20 
17 
17 
17 


29 
20 

11 

>4 
7 
8 


II 
11 

3 

5 


6 
6 

2 
3 


2 
2 

: 


289 

503 

135 

383 
374 



It will here be seen in the case of Vassar that the size of fam- 
ilies has been smaller since 1901 tlian previous to that date. No 
Vassar graduate since that date has had a family of over three 
children, and only three have had a family of three. Vassar 
graduates since 1890 have had no families of six, six families of 
five, and eighteen families of four children each. The figures of 
Bryn Mawr, therefore, while they seem lower on the table, are 
really not so for the same period of years. 

The last table which seems of value is published in the Btmi 
Mawr catalogue for 1913, page 298. 



EDUCATION' AND FECUXDITV. 



15 



TABLE X. 

XUMBER OE MARRIAGES AMONG BRYN MAWR GRADUATES "AND NUMBER 

OF CHILDREN BORN, BY YEAR OF MARRIAGES, 1890-1912. 



Year of 

Marriage 



1890 

1891 

1892 

■ 8.JJ 

1894 

iSyi 

1896 

1897 

iSgS 

>8W 

1900 

lyoi 

1902 

1903 

1904 

iSf^a 

lyo(i 

1007 

I9t.8 

1909 

191.. 

1911 

• 912 

1890 to 1912. 



Duration 
of Mar. 


Number 
of Gradu- 
ates Mar- 
ried Each 
Year 


Number of Children 


Average 
per 


riage in 
Years 


Boys 


Girls Total 


Marriage 


22 .z.i 


1 


1 


2 3 


3.0 


21-22 


4 


5 


5 10 


2.5 


2U-2I 


2 





3 3 


1,5 


lu-2n 


,i 


6 


8 1 14 


4-7 


l8-ly 


5 


J 


4 1 9 


1.8 


,7-18 


9 


7 


9 1 16 


1.8 


16-17 


3 


6 1 J 1 8 


2-7 


15-16 


4 


7 3 1 10 


2.5 


14-15 


3 


12 9 1 21 


4.2 


lJ-14 


14 


10 1 16 


I.l 


12-13 


12 


14 1 14 28 


2-3 


11-12 


ij 


18 


14 ; 32 


2.5 


10-11 


10 


13 


8 1 21 


2.1 


9-10 


15 


11 


15 1 26 


1-7 


3-9 


2i 


31 


32 1 63 


2.7 


7-8 


29 


29 ) 24 1 53 


1.8 


0-7 


s6 


23 


34 1 57 


1.6 


5-0 


29 


18 


■ 7 1 35 


1.2 


4-5 


30 


22 


11 1 33 


I.I 


.i--l 


28 


16 


18 


34 


i.i 


2- J 


31 


3 


15 


18 


U.6 




34 


■ 8 


6 


14 


0.4 


I niier 1 


S2 


u 1 1 u 


0.0 




392 


261 263 524 


1-3 



We here have an opportunity for the first time to cuinpare the 
number of diikh-en with the duration of the marriage. The aver- 
;\i;e inuiibfr of children ])er family of ten or more years' duration 
i- 2.7. showing a rate slightl)- higlier than that necessary to 
maintain a static population, provided no deaths occur, Holyoke 
gives a similar figure here, showing an average of 2.43 children 
born to each of 43Q married graduates of the decade 1890-99. 

Available figures dealing with the fecundity of college women 
are few in number and narrow in ^cope — the same data are not 
given in everv case, and coiiiparison is difficult. Figures for the 
i^ast deal with the number nf graduates having children, rather 
tli-m the number of children, hence the difficulty of showing ac- 
curate details of the number of children per marriage. Since in 
each case, of the five colleges furnishing the best data. Bryn Mawr 
\v.>; nearest to the medium, her figures can reasonably be as- 
sumed to represent the approximate situation in those colleges not 
giving ct)mplete data (.Smith and Rockford). Since further, the 



l6 ICDUCATION AND FEfUNDITY. 

Bryn Mawr table for duration of marriage shows that all mar- 
riages of over ten years' duration average 2.7 children, the fol- 
lowing conclusion may be drawn : 

1. Where all college graduates are included up to date the 
number of children per graduate would be slightly above three 
fourths, the number per married graduate would be approximately 
one and one half. 

2. Where only those graduates who have been graduated a 
sufficient number of jears to allow for marriage antl all probable 
family increase, are considered, the rate would be api)roximately 
2 to 2V^ children per family. 

So much for the available figures for college graduates. Of 
all possible comparisons, the fairest, in fact the only fair com- 
parison, is with the sisters, cousins, and friends of these college 
women, who did not themselves attend college. Here social and 
economic considerations would have equal weight, and any differ- 
ence in rate would most ])robably be traceable to the college 
training. 

Mary Roberts Smith in an article on the Statistics of College 
and Non-College Women (1900)" has made such a study and 
obtained from it valuable conclusions. Schedules were sent by 
her to 343 college mothers and 313 non-college mothers who were 
tlieir sisters, cousins, and friends. She summarizes her con- 
clusions as follows : 

1. The marriage of college women was postp;ined two year< 
as compared wit'h that of non-college women (26.3 vs. 24.3 years. ) 

2. The age of marriage for both classes has been growing in 
the last thirty years, — a larger per cent, of non-c(illege mothers 
marrying before the age of 21 ; a larger per cent, of the college 
mothers marrying after 34. 

3. The non-college women have been married an average of 2 
ve;irs longer than the college women and have borne a slightl)' 
larger number of children, but the college women have borne the 
larger number of children per year of married life. 

.Signiilcant comparison may be made between the men. If we 

*Quarterly Publications of the American Statistical .Association, No. 
49-50, Volume VII, March-June, IQOO, p. i. 



EDUCATION AND TI-XU NDITY. 



compare the fecuiulity of Yale graduates to the fecundity of 
women college graduates, we get the following results.* 

TABLE XI. 

A COMI'AKISON OF THE BIRTH RATES OF VALE AND VASSAR C.RADU- 

ATE3 CLASSES OF 1867 TO 1886 INCLUSIVE. NUMBER 

OF CHILDREN PER MARRIED GRADUATE. 



Vale: 

1867-1886 
V.iS,-,ar: 



2.02 

'■9i 



.\nother interesting comparison might be made between women 
college graduates and women graduates of normal and high 
schools, who did not go to college, but here again it is rendered 
impossible by the fragmentary character of the material. Author- 
itative data was secured for only two classes and conclusions from 
them would carry little weight. 

A comparison of college birth rates with those of the popula- 
tion at large are of little value because of the diiiferences in age, 
sex, social and economic position. Moreover, statistics of the 
population at large in the United States have never been compiled. 
In the registration area, where some work has been done, imper- 
fect registration of birth renders the figures of somewhat doubt- 
ful value. 

One study, however, has been made vvliich gives us comparable 
figures from the population at large. I refer to an article by Dr. 
Jo-eph A. Hill in the Quarterly Publkwtions of the Ameut- 
CAN Statistical Association.! Dr. Hill's study included in all 
185,788 women, 78,432 of whom had been married ten to twenty 
years. These 78,432 were divided into four classifications : ( i ) 
white native parentage, (2) white foreign parentage (first gen- 
eration ) , ( 3 ) ( second generation ) , ( 4 ) negro. Tlie areas covered 
were the state of Rhode Island, the City of Cleveland and 48 
mainly rural counties in Ohio, Atinneapolis, and 2T mainly rural 
coMinies in iMinnesota. The native white of native parents are of 

♦Statistics of Yale Graduates, Yale Review, 1908-09, p. ay. 
tQuartcrly Pulilications of the American Statistical Association, Vol. 
XIII. IX-c. 1913, p. 583- 



F.nUCATIOX AND FECUNDITY. 



course the only ones that can fairly be com])ared with our college 
women. For them the fis'ures were as follows ; 



TABLE XII. 

BIRTH RATE OF NATIVE-BORN WHITE AMERICAN WOMEN UNDER 4S 

YEARS OF AGE, MARRIED 10-20 YEARS. 



Total 


Bearing- No Children 


Total 

Number 

of Children 

42,933 


Average [ Per Cent Bearing 

per 


Number 


Number I Per Cent. 

1 

1 

2.(107 n-i 

1 


Married 

Woman , q^ ^ 


3. 4 or 5 


6 or More 
Children 


i^.o^.l 


2.7 39-8 ■ 


37.2 


Q-M 



The interesting fact here is that Dr. Hill's average number of 
children per married woman, 2."/ , is identical with the 2."] children 
which each Bryn Mawr marriage of over ten years duration aver- 
ages. Here, at least, we find two groups of women, college, 
and selected from the population at large, identical as to age, race, 
and duratiim of marriage, who average the same number of chil- 
dren per marriage. 

In conclusion we may say, hrst, that the birth rate of college 
women i> ascentainable ; second, that, in so far as it can be coni- 
jiared to that of the sisters, cousins, and friends uf college women, 
it is probably verv little lower, or about the same, x.c, the non- 
college woman has more children, but the college woman bears 
more per year of married life: third, if we compare it with that 
of men college graduates, we tind oid\ a slightly lower rate ft.r 
tlie women ; fourtli. in comparing it with the only definite study so 
far discovered, of women fmm the pnpulation at large, of similar 
race, of child-bearing age, married ten tii twenty years, we find 
almost completelv identical figures. Obviously none of these coni- 
])arisons -ire of great value. The numbers included are in mo-t 
cases tijo small or the ground covered too limited Id enable u.-- to 
give tiie re>ults any widespread applicatimi. 

The purpose of this study, as stated in the introduction, was 
the answering of two definite questions: First, is the- hi.gher 
education of women absolutely and relatively increasing in this 
countrv? .Second, has tliis increase, if there is any. an appreciable 
efi'ect upon fecundity? 

The first of the-^e (luc-tiims must be answered definitely in the 



EDUCATION AND FECUNDITY I9 

affirmative. A careful investigation of the figures at hand shows 
not only a larger absolute number of girls than of boys in the high 
schools of the United States, but a greater ratio of increase in 
college attendance for girls than for boys, and a steady increase 
in the proportion of women students to the entire body of college 
students. 

The answer to the second question — Has this increase in the 
higher education of women any effect upon fecundity — is not so 
satisfactory. It has been found ( i ) that the proportion of women 
college graduates who marry is approximately one half (slightly 
over one half in most cases); (2) that the proportion of men 
college graduates who marry is somewhat higher; (3) that, com- 
paring college women with the census figures of population at 
large, the marriage rate among non-college women is consider- 
ably higher (59 per cent.) than among college women; (4) that 
the higher marriage rate of men and non-college women (where 
it is higher) may quite conceivably be due to causes other than 
that of education. 

The figures and conclusions obtained are, at best, inadequate. 
Obviously they fall far short of showing any appreciable effect 
uf the higher education of women upon fecundity. The college 
statistics are accurate and reliable as far as they go, but there are 
too few colleges which keep any records of fecundity, and the 
greater part of the figures obtainable are too recent to be fairly 
representative of college fecundity. High and normal school 
statistics on the subject of fecundity are practically non-existent, 
;:nd present a field of work which would adequately repay careful 
investigation. The figures do prove conclusively the impossibili- 
ty of justifying any statement that the higher education of women 
(liies or does not lower fecundity. 

.\s far as any positive conclusion is concerned, the figures only 
• show the existence of two separate phenomena of continually 
increasing importance, which might, were all the facts of the case 
revealed, show a close inter-relation. Obviously the importance 
of investigating the facts and obtaining all possible information 
and statistics cannot be overestimated. The entire trei;d of our 
higher education of wortien should be. and I confidently believe 
will be determined in large measure by its eft'ect upon fecundity. 



